Maternity garment



March 6, 1951 P. JACOBS ET AL 2,544,386

MATERNITY GARMENT Filed Jan. 28, 1949 INVENT/0R5. P/wY/f Jaaabs Patented Mar. 6, 1951 UNITED PATENT OFFICE 3544,325 MATERNITY GARMENT Phillip lamb and Jake Jacobs ansas Ci y, Mo- Application January 28, 1943, Serial No. 73,262

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This invention relates to a maternity garment, the primary object. being to provide a skirt having an opening formed therein near the waist of the skirt to render the garment comfortable to the wearer thereof and to maintain its ap- .pearance from the standpoint of even adjustment, said opening being provided with a plurality of transverse straps adjustably arranged thereon to fit persons undergoing constant physiological development.

The most important object of this invention s to pr'Q -ide a. maternity sk rt as a o e se ort wherein the opening the kir i p esided a its uppermost open end with a pair of tying tapes, said tapes being interconnected with the skirt through the means of an extensible strap disposed substantially perpendicular and secured to the skirt at the lowermost end of the opening.

Other objects of the present invention include the way in which the extensible member is formed to permit adjustment as the waist of the wearer increases in size, all of which will be made clearor become apparent as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front plan view of a maternity garment made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, front elevational view showing a modified form of the present invention; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse cross-sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

The modification of this invention illustrated in Figs, 1 and'2 of the drawing constitutes a tubular skirt, broadly designated by the numeral l having the ends thereof open and formed to define a waist portion at the uppermost end thereof.

A hem l2 at said uppermost end of the skirt [0 constitutes a waist band. An oval opening [4 is formed in the skirt Ill at the front thereof and adjacent the waist band l2. This opening I4 extends downwardly a distance from the waist band l2 and the fabric material from which the skirt I 0 is formed is rebent to present a hem H5 at the periphery of the opening I 4. It is seen that the uppermost end of this o ening [4 is open and traversed by a pair of tying tapes l6 and I8 capable of interconnection by a knotted bow 20.

A flexible strap 22, formed from any suitable fabric material interconnects the tying tapes [6 ill and I8 and the skirt. l9 adjacent the lowermost end of the opening 14. When the garment. "is placed in use, this. strap 22 is substantially perpendicular to the tying tapes I 6 and [8- and the lowermost end thereof is secured directly to the skirt It) by stitching 24. From the point of connection 24 of strap 22 with the skirt. proper, strap 22 extends upwardly and is looped as'at 26 over the tied tapes i6 and 18. That end of the strap 22 opposite to the end connected to skirt lll, extendsdownwardly along the innermost face of strap 22 "in an overlapped p 11?- tier-12B. g

A plurality of snap fasteners '30 0fthe well known sectional type having oneportion thereof on the innermost face of the strap 22 proper and a second section on the proximal face of the portion 28, interconnect the overlapped parts of strap 22. These snap fasteners 30 extend longitudinally along the strap 22.

It is thus seen that the skirt can be easily removed and replaced by untying the tapes l6 and I8 and by releasing the fasteners 3|] to separate all three members l6, I8 and 22. As the waist of the wearer develops to a point requiring extension of the skirt, it is a simple matter to extend the strap 22 and using fewer of the snap fasteners 30 inasmuch as these elements are interchangeable and the lowermost section thereof on the innermost face of strap 22, need not be used. When the strap 22 is connected as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing, it is at its shortest length and if the lowermost snap fastener section on portion 28 is connected with the uppermost snap fastener section on the innermost face of stra 22, then strap 22 is extended to its full length.

A slightly modified form of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing and includes a tubular skirt 5!) having an opening 52 registering with the waist of the skirt 50 in precisely the same manner as just above described with respect to the modifications of Figs. 1 and 2. The uppermost end of the opening 52 is traversed by a pair of tying elements 54 and 55 again as above described with respect to Figs. 1 and 2. In this modification, however, a strap 58 that interconnects the tying elements 54 and 56 with the lowermost end of the onening 52, is looped about the tying elements 54 and 56 and extends downwardly in ove appin relationshin with the innermost face of t e skirt 50.

Snap fasteners 58 of the kind havin a pair of sections are provided for .ioinin the overlapped end of thestrap 58 with the skirt (0.

One of these sections of each snap fastener 60 is secured directly to the innermost face of skirt 50 and the other section thereof is mounted on the proximal face of the strap 58. Here again the snap fasteners 60 are disposed in spaced apart relationship and extending longitudinally of the strap 58.

It is to be noted that While the fastening elements 30 and 60 of the two modifications of the present invention have been indicated to constitute snap fasteners, it is appreciated that any other detachable securing means might be used, provided only that the same is capable of permitting the extension of the upright strap as desired by the wearer. It is, of course, obvious that this garment will be worn in conjunction with a jacket that is sufficiently long to cover the opening l4, together with the herein described tying elements and extensible straps. Obviously, the entire ensemble will present an attractive and neat-appearing garment that is'not only. comfortable to the wearer thereof but easily fastened in place and removed as desired.

Manifestly, such changes and modifications as fairly come within the scope of the appended claim, are contemplated hereby.

Having thus described the invention, what is .claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A maternity garment comprising in combination-a tubular skirt having a waistband and an opening extending downwardly from the waistband at the front of the skirt to accommodate theabdomen when enlarged by reason of pregnancy; and-readily releasable attaching means 4 for gradually increasing the girth of the skirt at and immediately below said waistband, said means comprising a pair of opposed tying tapes traversing the opening at the uppermost end thereof when tied together, an abdomen-traversing, flexible strap permanently secured at one end thereof to the skirt at the lowermost end of the opening, said strap having a first portion thereof spanning the distance between the tying tapes and said end of the opening and being looped over one of the tying tapes, terminating in a second portion depending from said one tying tape and disposed in face-to-face relationship to said first strap portion, and a plurality of equally spaced fastening elements between the proximal faces of said strap portions for joining the latter together, each element having a part attached to each strap portion respectively, each of said parts on one strap portion being adapted for selective connection with any one of the parts on the other strap portion.

PHILLIP JACOBS. JAKE JACOBS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Frankfurt et a1 Dec-27,1938 

